...AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR MARCH COLDER THAN JANUARY...
...8TH COLDEST MARCH ON RECORD AT AUGUSTA...
...TRACE OF SNOWFALL REPORTED ON MARCH 2ND...
...EF1 TORNADO IN BURKE COUNTY ON THE 18TH...

THE WEATHER PATTERN REMAINED QUITE ACTIVE FROM FEBRUARY INTO MARCH
ACROSS THE REGION. ALTHOUGH RAINFALL WAS NOT NEARLY AS HEAVY AS
FEBRUARY...MANY AREAS RECEIVED NEAR OR ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE
MONTH. TEMPERATURES WERE WELL BELOW NORMAL FOR THE MONTH...WITH
MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AROUND 5 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT BOTH AUGUSTA AND COLUMBIA FOR MARCH WAS BELOW
THE VERY WARM AVERAGE TEMPERATURES DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY. A
LOOK AT THE NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION (NAO) AND THE ARCTIC
OSCILLATION (AO) SHOW NEGATIVE VALUES THAT BEGAN IN FEBRUARY AND
CONTINUED INTO MARCH EVEN BECOMING MORE NEGATIVE. NEGATIVE VALUES OF
THESE OSCILLATIONS ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH COLDER THAN NORMAL
CONDITIONS ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY. MARCH ALSO
BROUGHT THE AREAS MOST WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK OF THE
SEASON OCCURRING ON THE EVENING OF THE 18TH.

TEMPERATURES WERE BELOW NORMAL FOR MUCH OF THE MONTH AT BOTH AUGUSTA
AND COLUMBIA. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT AUGUSTA REGIONAL BUSH FIELD
WAS 50.8 DEGREES OR 5.1 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 55.9 DEGREES.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT WAS 51.0 DEGREES
OR 4.6 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 55.6 DEGREES.

PRECIPITATION WAS NEAR OR A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL AT BOTH AUGUSTA AND
COLUMBIA FOR THE MONTH. HOWEVER...SOME AREAS OF THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH
RIVER AREA RECEIVED BETWEEN 3 AND 5 INCHES OF RAINFALL FOR THE
MONTH. THE TOTAL RAINFALL AT AUGUSTA REGIONAL BUSH FIELD WAS 3.11
INCHES OR 1.07 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 4.18 INCHES. THE TOTAL
RAINFALL AT COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT WAS 3.65 INCHES OR 0.08 INCHES
BELOW THE NORMAL OF 3.73 INCHES.

HERE ARE SOME OF RAINFALL TOTALS FROM OUR COCORAHS AND NWS COOP
OBSERVERS:

MARCH 2ND...A DEEP UPPER LEVEL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVED ACROSS THE
UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THIS SYSTEM PRODUCED MEASURABLE SNOW IN
THE NORTHERN PIEDMONT...BUT ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW WAS REPORTED IN
LANCASTER AND FAIRFIELD COUNTIES.

MARCH 18TH...A SQUALL LINE DEVELOPED AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD
FRONT DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THIS LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED WINDS UP TO 75 MPH ALONG WITH NUMEROUS
REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS MUCH OF THE MIDLANDS
AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. A CELL THAT MERGED WITH THE LINE
ACROSS BURKE COUNTY GEORGIA PRODUCED AN EF1 TORNADO THAT TOUCHED
DOWN ABOUT 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WAYNESBORO. THE TORNADO TRACK WAS
JUST UNDER 6 MILES WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 220 YARDS. THE TORNADO
TOOK DOWN NUMEROUS TREES...SEVERELY DAMAGED FIELD IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
AND DESTROYED CATTLE BARNS AND HEAVY EQUIPMENT BUILDINGS AT SEVERAL
LOCATIONS. THE TORNADO ALSO KILLED 3 CATTLE AND INJURED SEVERAL
OTHERS. THE SAME STORM ALSO PRODUCED 1 INCH HAIL. ACROSS THE
CENTRAL...SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MIDLANDS THERE WERE NUMEROUS REPORTS
OF TREES AND POWERLINES DOWNED BY WIND GUSTS UP TO 75 MPH.

MARCH 24TH...LOW PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PRODUCED
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE REGION. RAINFALL AMOUNTS RANGED FROM 2
TO 2 1/2 INCHES. THE HEAVY RAIN PRODUCED SOME MINOR FLOODING ALONG
STEVENS CREEK AT MODOC. STEVENS CREEK CRESTED AT 22.2 FEET AND FLOOD
STAGE IS 19.0 FEET.

THE FORECAST CALLS FOR A 33 TO 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND NEARLY EQUAL CHANCE OF ABOVE...BELOW OR NORMAL
PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH. THIS MEANS THAT THERE IS A CLIMATE
SIGNAL THAT TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL...HOWEVER THERE IS
NOT A CLEAR CLIMATE SIGNAL TO INDICATE WETTER OR DRIER CONDITIONS
THROUGH THE MONTH.

.NOTE...
MUCH APPRECIATION GOES OUT TO OUR NWS COOPERATIVE WEATHER
OBSERVERS...COCORAHS (COMMUNITY...COLLABORATIVE...RAIN...HAIL AND
SNOW NETWORK) OBSERVERS...SOUTHEAST REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER AND
LOCAL WEATHER PARTNERS FOR THE DATA THEY PROVIDE THROUGHOUT THE
YEAR. THEIR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION IS INVALUABLE.

TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR COLUMBIA GO BACK TO 1887 AND FOR AUGUSTA
BACK TO 1873. PRECIPITATION RECORDS FOR COLUMBIA GO BACK TO 1878 AND
FOR AUGUSTA BACK TO 1871.

ADDITIONAL CLIMATE INFORMATION...INCLUDING CURRENT AND
ARCHIVED DAILY AND MONTHLY SUMMARIES...CAN BE FOUND ON THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC HOME PAGE AT
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/CAE .